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Tag Archives: Ranking

Best College: What That Means for Us

U.S. News & World Report has ranked The University of Scranton among the top 10 “Best Regional Universities in the North” for the 26th consecutive year. U.S. News ranked Scranton No. 6 in the 2020 edition of the “Best Colleges” guidebook, which became available online today.

U.S. News also ranked Scranton No. 5 in its category in a listing, based on peer assessment recommendations, of the nation’s “Most Innovative Schools,” which recognizes colleges that are making “innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology and facilities.” In addition, U.S. News ranked Scranton No. 12 in its category in its “Best Undergraduate Teaching” listing of the top colleges in the nation expressing “a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.”

In national rankings, as opposed to listings by category, U.S. News included Scranton among America’s “Best Undergraduate Business Programs,” ranking Scranton at No. 224 in the U.S., and among the nation’s “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs,” ranking Scranton No. 143 among schools where a doctorate is not offered. Also, in national rankings of all business programs in America, U.S. News ranked Scranton’s entrepreneurship program at No. 33, its finance program at No. 43 and its accounting program at No. 52 in the country.

In addition, Scranton was ranked No. 38 as a “Best Value Regional University in the North,” which compares academic quality of programs to cost of attendance. This is the seventh consecutive year U.S. News has recognized Scranton as a “Best Value” school. Scranton was also listed among the “top ranked” colleges where students do well based on “spirit and hard work.”

U.S. News slightly changed the methodology used in its rankings this year to include a first-generation student graduation variable among the data used to determine a school’s “outcomes” assessment, which represents 35 percent of the overall score. Other factors in the “outcomes” assessment include a social mobility score, freshman retention, graduation rates and graduation performance rates, which compares a school’s actual graduation rates with predicted graduation rates based on characteristics of the incoming class.

In addition, U.S. News considers a range of quality indicators for its ranking that includes peer assessment of academic excellence (20 percent); faculty resources (20 percent), which now includes regional cost-of-living adjustments to faculty pay and benefits; student selectivity (10 percent); financial resources (10 percent); and alumni giving (5 percent).

U.S. News categorizes colleges for their rankings based on the official Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classification of universities.

The 2020 U.S. News “Best Colleges” rankings became available online Sept. 9.

Best in the Nation!

The Princeton Review, Money magazine and Forbes ranked Scranton among the best colleges in the nation in August.

The Princeton Review selected The University of Scranton among “The Best 385 Colleges” in the country and also ranked Scranton among the nation’s “Best Science Lab Facilities” (No. 7), “Best Campus Food” (No. 10) and “Best-Run Colleges (No. 20). The 2020 edition of the annual guidebook published Aug. 6.

The University was also recognized as a “best value” in higher education by Forbes in its 2019 listing of “America’s Top Colleges.” Forbes ranked the University No. 251 in its listing of just 650 schools, which published online Aug. 12.

Money magazine ranked the University of No. 296 among its selection of the 744 “Best Colleges in America” in its 2019 listing published online Aug. 15. Money based its ranking of the nation’s best values for a college education on its analysis of 26 data factors to determine the schools’ educational quality, affordability and alumni success.

Can You Believe this Ranking?!

The University of Scranton placed at No. 10 among the “Best Catholic Colleges and Universities” in America in a 2019 ranking that combines an average score from respected national publication rankings with an average score based on student reviews posted online. The ranking, published recently online by College Consensus, includes some of the most prestigious Catholic universities in America.

Scranton was the highest ranked Catholic university in Pennsylvania.

For the ranking, College Consensus calculated an “average rating score” for colleges based on national guidebook rankings, which include U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and others. College Consensus also calculated an “overall score” for colleges based on student reviews posted on multiple sites, including Niche.com. The “consensus ranking” combined both these scores.

This is the second consecutive year College Consensus ranked Scranton in the top 10 Catholic Colleges in the nation.

Niche.com also ranked Scranton among “Best Catholic Colleges in America,” placing Scranton at No. 14 in its 2019 national ranking. College Factual ranked Scranton No. 33 in its national 2019 “Best Roman Catholic Colleges” list and No. 2 in Pennsylvania for its state rankings of Catholic colleges.

The University of Scranton is ranked in all the above-mentioned publications, in addition to numerous other national “best college” rankings. U.S. News has ranked Scranton among the top 10 “Best Regional Universities in the North” for 25 consecutive years.

Best Colleges ranked the University’s program No. 1 in the nation in its ranking of the “Top 25 Programs for a Master’s in Accounting Online for 2019.” The list by Best Colleges, an independent college information website, equally weighted information on a school’s admissions rate, student loan default rate, retention rate, graduation rate and the percent of students enrolled in online classes, to determine its ranking.

Best College Reviews, an online college review journal, ranked Scranton No. 3 in the nation in its list of the “40 Best Online Master’s Degrees in Accounting.” Best College Reviews ranked the schools according to points awarded for “relevant accounting courses that apply well in the accounting job market (1-5 point range), awards or other noted recognition in the field (1-4 point range), faculty expertise with terminal degrees in the field (1-4 points), flexibility of degree track (1-3 points), quality of online interface and resources (1-3 points) and an additional point was awarded for features of particular distinction.”

Master’s Program Guide ranked Scranton No. 4 list of the “50 Best Online Master of Accounting Degrees.” The methodology used by the online college information source first looked at top programs recognized in sources such as U.S. News and World Report, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The publication then ranked the schools based on affordability (25 percent), accreditation and commendation (25 percent), student satisfaction and support services (25 percent) and online accessibility (25 percent).

Accounting Degree Review ranked Scranton No. 4 in the nation in its list of the “Top 50 Online Master’s Degrees in Accounting.” According to the online information source for prospective accounting and finance students, the 2019 ranking is based on publicly available information regarding reputation, prestige, student satisfaction, affordability and value.

College Choice ranked Scranton No. 7 in its “Best Online Master’s in Accounting” list. The ranking by online college search source only included accredited institutions. The University’s Kania School of Management holds accreditation by the rigorous standards of AACSB International. Schools were then ranked based on quality factors (20 percent), such as graduation rate and faculty credentials; reputation (20 percent), based on the school’s ranking in US News, Financial Times and other sources; affordability (20 percent), based on net price calculation and average student loan size; value (20 percent) based on a return on investment (ROI) score; and satisfaction (20 percent), based on retention and reviews logged on Rate My Professor, Niche and other online sources.

In addition, Online Schools Center, an online college information source, listed Scranton among the “Top 15 Online Master’s of Management Accounting.” Schools were not ranked in the listing of just the top online accounting programs in the nation. The list was determined based on program criteria (50 percent), such as the percentage of the program that can be completed online and retention rates; ancillary services (30 percent), such as career services and post-graduate career placement; and school criteria (20 percent), such as accreditation and other recognition.

Scranton offers online master’s degrees in accountancy, finance, health administration, health informatics and human resources, as well as online MBA degrees in general business, accounting, enterprise resource planning, finance, healthcare management, human resources, international business and operations management; and a dual MBA/MHA degree, in addition to graduate certificates. For technology, recruitment and marketing support, the University partners with Wiley for the online programs.

Click here to learn more about the MAcc programs at The University of Scranton!

Something for Every Lifestyle: “Best Online Graduate Programs”

U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 “Best Online Graduate Programs” ranked The University of Scranton’s online master’s degree programs in business (excluding MBA) at No. 76 and its MBA program at No. 109 in the nation. U.S. News also ranked Scranton at No. 52 in the country for “Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans.”

This is the eighth consecutive year that U.S. News ranked the University’s online programs among the best in the nation. The methodology used by U.S. News to determine the ranking has changed several times throughout the years.

For the 2019 Best Online Programs ranking, which published Jan. 15, U.S. News reviewed statistical information submitted by schools. The ranking criteria differed by category. The criteria used by U.S. News to rank online business and MBA programs included student engagement (28 percent), which looked at graduation rates, class size, one-year retention rates, and best practices such as accreditation by AACSB International, collaborative coursework requirements, course evaluation requirements and other factors. The ranking criteria also included admission selectivity (25 percent); peer reputation score (25 percent); faculty credentials and training (11 percent); and student services and technology (11 percent).

In addition to offering distance education programs that incorporate coursework that is predominantly online, colleges and universities making the “Best Online Program for Veterans” list must have ranked in top half of 2019 Best Online Program rankings; be certified for the GI Bill, which includes participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program; and enroll a “critical mass of veterans” as defined by U.S. News based on the size of the college.

Scranton offers online MBA degrees in general business, accounting, enterprise resource planning, finance, healthcare management, human resources, international business and operations management; master’s degrees in accountancy, finance, health administration, health informatics and human resources and a dual MBA/MHA degree, in addition to graduate certificates. For technology, recruitment and marketing support, the University partners with Wiley for the online programs.

In other rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, Scranton has been ranked among the top 10 “Best Regional Universities in the North” for 25 consecutive years. Scranton is ranked No. 6 in the 2019 edition of the guidebook. U.S. News also ranked Scranton No. 3 in its category in a listing of just 168 colleges in the nation expressing “A Strong Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching” and No. 11 in its category in a ranking of the “Most Innovative Schools.” U.S. News also ranked Scranton’s programs in entrepreneurship at No. 31, finance at No. 36, and accounting at No. 37 in the country, among other rankings.